| After battling through years of pain, RB Stewart feels he's close to 100 percent |
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| Written by Steve Reed |
| Friday, July 30, 2010 1:52 pm |
 Jonathan Stewart said he'll be back on the field soon. (Photo by John Clark) Stewart rolled his eyes to the ceiling, trying to reflect on a date that seems so long ago in his mind. “It was before I played Arizona in college, my last year,” Stewart said, thinking back to the fall of 2007. “That was the last time I really felt 100 percent.” The good news is he’s getting closer. Although he began training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, Stewart said he hopes to return to practice “soon,” indicating that could come before the team breaks camp on Aug. 18. Regardless, he said he’ll be ready to play in the Sept. 12 regular season opener against the New York Giants. "My foot is getting better and the progress is on point for the season and everything, so there's nothing to worry about there," said Stewart, who underwent surgery in January to remove spurs and scar tissue around the area where the Achilles tendon attaches to the heel. "We're just being smart. The coaches are being smart, and trainers too, they're all working together as usual." Stewart has been an interesting case study since the Panthers selected him in the first round of the 2008 NFL draft. He’s rarely practiced and yet, amazingly, he’s never missed a game, kind of like that old uncle who waits until Sunday to roll that vintage Cadillac out of the garage. In two seasons as DeAngelo Williams’ backup, Stewart has piled up 1,969 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry with 20 touchdowns. Last year he led the team in rushing, racking up 430 yards in the final three games with Williams on the sidelines nursing a sore foot. That included a franchise-record 206-yard effort in a 41-9 win over the New York Giants. “He’s awesome,” said tight end Jeff King. “I know he wants to be out there, but I don’t know how he does it. Honestly it’s amazing how he comes out and plays with the limited amount of practice time he’s had over the past couple of years.” When asked if he ribs Stewart about not practicing, King’s voice raised a pitch, “You can’t! I mean, it would be one thing if he was inconsistent -- you know, one game good and one bad -- but the guy comes out every week and plays well so there’s nothing you can say about him. The guy has a good schedule going. Why mess with him?” Still, the jokes and ribbing are relentless for Stewart, especially when his teammates have to trot out to practice every day while he heads over to work with strength coach Jerry Simmons on the sidelines. But he’s learned to handle the jokes – well, sort of. “It depends on when I'm hearing it,” he said. “If I'm thinking good, it's funny. If I'm not thinking good it gets kind of annoying.” It bothers Stewart that sometimes a player’s toughness can be questioned if he’s not on the practice field, especially when fans don’t completely understand what he went through to get on the field in 2009. He admitted he was in “quite a bit” of pain all of last year, although didn’t want to sound like a guy who was complaining. It’s not that Stewart doesn’t want to practice either. He does. It’s just been deemed smarter by the medical staff to hold him out. And so far that strategy has worked well as indicated by the success he’s had on the field come game day. “For me, being an athlete and being a competitor, practice is something that's very important to excel at,” Stewart said. “You've got guys that are practicing around you and getting better and you're not being able to get the opportunity. It kind of sucks.” The entire problem stems back to his days at Oregon when he injured his right toe in a game against Arizona. He had surgery prior to the NFL draft and rarely practiced with the Panthers as a rookie in 2008, although he still managed to run for 836 yards and 10 touchdowns. Playing on that toe, however, put added pressure on the Achilles in his other foot. “I was overcompensating and doing different things with my body,” he said. “It's making up for the lack of push off and stuff like that.” Entering last season he never thought he’d make it through the entire year, figure the Achilles would tear at some point. The pain was excruciating at times, but Stewart always managed to play on Sunday. Six months out from his latest surgery, he feels confident that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, the whole situation makes you wonder: If an injured Stewart is so productive then just how good could he be if he ever truly gets back to 100 percent? “I always think about that,” Stewart admitted with a smile. “It’s not he doesn’t want to be in there,” said his close friend Williams, who teamed with Stewart in 2009 to become the first running back duo in NFL history to both rush for more than 1,100 yards in a season. “He had surgery and he can’t be in there. I haven’t given him a hard time. I’ve been checking on his progress day in and day out.” Through it all, the 23-year-old Stewart maintains a positive outlook about the situation. “I think sometimes God puts us in situations to see how we're going to respond and react,” he said. “There are definitely some things that I've learned through this process. The whole perspective of being patient and just pretty much dealing with the injuries and building the character around that. “Once I get healthy, it's going to be one of the best days of my life -- just to be able to get back to normal.” |